Mourning Innocence
by StarDuquesneEMT
Summary: Calleighcentric, EC later. Prequel to I95 South, first in a series of 8 and counting. First chapter contains graphic description of a violent attack.
1. Chapter 1

center u Mourning Innocence /u 

_ i And she takes another step  
Slowly she opens the door  
Check that he is sleeping  
Pick up all the broken glass and furniture on the floor  
Been up half the night screaming now it's time to get away  
Pack up the kids in the car /i /center _

The thought that was first and foremost in her mind was how incredibly happy she was that her brothers were no longer affected by anything that happened. Her father was in Miami; she was the only one that could be hurt by his actions now. And if she was hurt, she rationalized, no one she loved would be.

_ center i Another bruise to try and hide  
Another alibi to write  
Another ditch in the road  
You keep moving  
Another stop sign  
You keep moving on  
And the years go by so fast  
Wonder how I ever made it through /center /i _

Since everyone had found out about her and Hagan despite her best efforts to the contrary, she hoped they would chalk the heavier-than-usual makeup up to an attempt to hide a night's worth of tears. Maybe they'd even forget that not a soul ever saw Calleigh Duquesne cry. Tears invited harder beatings. It must have been the years of reprieve that had allowed the tears to take the throne in the center of the evening's equation. Perhaps it was the stab of fear she felt when her father had ripped off the belt she was wearing, her favorite wide belt with the gorgeous rectangular tooled silver buckle and her badge clipped next to it. So many lovely sharp edges eager to take out their frustrations on Calleigh's bare back. Some things didn't ever change, like the strength of her father's swing, or the fact that she completely deserved it. She had screwed up her father's first case as a public defender. She had encouraged him when he had been fine without her two cents. And she had gone up against Hagan. Guilty on all counts, and the sentencing phase of a bench trial is swift. She should have checked to see if there was alcohol in his bedroom before she sent him to change while she made coffee. She should have recognized the look in his eyes immediately without trying to rationalize that it couldn't happen again. She should never have interfered in the case in the first place. Guilty on all counts. Guilty. The word reverberated through her tortured soul like the bang of a gavel in a courtroom. Like the sound of leather and metal on bare skin.

_ center i And there are children to think of_

_Babies asleep in the backseat  
Wonder how they'll ever make it through this living nightmare  
But the mind is an amazing thing  
Full of candy dreams and new toys and another cheap hotel  
Two beds and a coffee machine  
But there are groceries to buy  
And she knows she'll have to go home /i /center  
_

Old patterns were a cruel joke, really. Here she was on her hands and knees cleaning up everything that had been thrown or knocked during the struggle even while trails of blood oozed from more places than she could think to count. Just like she had done for so many years after stealing her brothers away for a car ride, wincing as the bumps in the dirt road mauled her already battered body. All that had mattered then was that she get the little ones as far as possible from the madness in the tiny house by the lake. Drawing fire from their parents, stealing them away, all of it came down to the simple fact that if she was the one hurt, then no one she loved would be. If just once she hadn't had to bring them back, she often wondered, where would she be now? Where would any of them be?

_ i center Another ditch in the road  
You keep moving  
Another stop sign  
You keep moving on  
And the years go by so fast  
Wonder how I ever made it through /center _

_"You didn't have to do that."_

"_Yes I did."_

_"You did this, Calleigh! It's all" SMACK "Your" SMACK "FAULT!" THWACK_

"_Noo Daddy please, no please I'm sorry I didn't mean to ruin your case please no please stop Daddy I'll be good I promise no Daddy please!"_

_There were times that being small was a curse, and facing a drunken Kenwall Duquesne was most definitely one of them. Duquesne. The name that had meant a fresh start for Calleigh so many years ago, one that now carried the weight of her professionalism and expertise, now taken by a man who wanted a reputation he hadn't earned to prop up the new leaf that he could never get turned quite far enough over. He got chance after chance in Miami, without fully earning any of them, out of respect for her. And there wasn't a damn thing she could do about it. /i _

She finally finished her cleanup and got ready to leave, hoping the man passed out on the couch in a drunken stupor was really out this time. Carrying her boots in one hand and her bloody belt in the other, she headed for her Jeep. There was a fuzzy blanket in the back that she could use to cover her tattered clothes, and if she left her belt back there she wouldn't have to deal with it yet. Some level of her mind was screaming that at her age she shouldn't still be getting punished by Daddy, but she knew she deserved it with every repentant fiber of her being. Her shield gave her the power to protect others, but she didn't deserve its protection for herself. She avoided her reflection; it was obvious without looking how swollen the left side of her face was. Long sleeves, loose pants, and heavy foundation would be the next day's armor, if only she could get home. Somehow getting home would make everything okay.

_ center i Another bruise to try and hide  
Another alibi to write  
Another lonely highway in the black of night /i /center  
_

She made it to her street without issue, breathing a sigh of relief that froze in its tracks when she spotted Hagan's car in her driveway and the man himself leaning against the garage door. Trapped twice in one day was far too much to handle, but Mother Earth doesn't swallow Jeeps and their occupants on command, so she hit the button on the garage door opener and prayed for an easy way out, though she knew full well that Hagan had never given her one before.

Hagan came to stand by her door when the car was turned off. "Calleigh, I wanted to ap…" He was unable to hide his shock as he took in her appearance, but when he sniffed the air, Calleigh realized that she was in for it again, and resigned herself to round two. One of the things her father had thrown at her was a bottle of cologne.

"John, please, I-"

"Where the FUCK have you been, Calleigh?" His smoldering fury cut her off as it always did. "Out with someone else?" A glint of silver caught his eye, and he picked up her belt as she shrank back against the seat. "I guess you like it even rougher than I thought. Didn't think I could give it to you like you want? You had to go and cheat on me? Baby, all you had to do was ask." With a casual flick of his wrist, the belt leapt forward as if eager to continue the job and let the edge of her badge open a gash over her eye. The blood flowed freely, obscuring her vision. There were no mistakes this time; she recognized the look in Hagan's eyes to be the one that heralded his worst for her, and before she could be dragged out of the car, she dropped her hand to the cupholder, triple tapping the alert button on her phone in the mayday sequence a firefighter friend had taught her, and then quickly turning it off before anyone had time to respond, not even realizing that she had no idea who she had alerted. When Hagan opened the door she went limp, years of practice in the fine art of trying to avoid serious injury kicking in, though not in time to prevent the sickening crunch of the bones in her wrist. Her tiny frame was no match for him, and she idly wondered how she had ever thought she could cut it. i _Not only did I graduate from the same academy as you, but I am a Southern woman and all that implies and I don't know why you have so little confidence in my ability to protect myself. /i _ At the time she had been flattered by his attention, emotionally spent and wanting to be protected at the same time she proved that she didn't need it. He protected her, all right. Protected her from thinking too highly of herself, from getting too confident or thinking that she didn't deserve what he had for her on an almost daily basis. Bad girls never stop being bad; she had been taught this for as long as she could remember. Hagan gave her the punishment she deserved for ever entertaining the thought that she could truly leave her past behind and make a difference. The thought made her giggle for some reason, and she was rewarded with a backhand across the mouth and a fist slamming into her stomach for the third time. She curled into a ball, losing her battle with dinner as he picked her up, dropping her across the coffee table on her stomach and ripping off what little remained of her clothes, then trapping her hands behind her back with her own cuffs. "Frigid bitch like you needs to be owned. I apologize; I should have realized that you needed a firmer hand than you've been getting from me. If I had, you wouldn't have had to cheat to get what you want. I'll prove I can do it like you want, you little whore." Calleigh knew she should be grateful to be disciplined by two people in one day, happy that two people could love someone as horrible as her so much, but as he unbuckled his belt, Calleigh couldn't help the tears that came to her eyes again.

_ center i But there's hope in the darkness  
You know you're going to make it /i /center  
_

Horatio was in his office with the omnipresent paperwork when his cell surprised him with the sequence he recognized as the fire department's mayday call. He was even more surprised to see Calleigh's name attached to that particular signal, and briefly wondered if he was possibly not the intended recipient. He hit the button to ask her, but was unable to. Calling, he found that her phone was off. When running through every number he had for her produced no response, he abandoned his work without a second thought and bolted for the Hummer.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

_ center i Another ditch in the road  
Keep moving  
Another stop sign  
You keep moving on /i /center  
_

When Hagan was finished with her, she got another beating, somewhat halfhearted compared to what she had come to expect from him, but whatever he had tied off in her laundry bag did the job superbly. He finally left, satisfied with the lesson plan for the "No One Leaves John Hagan" Academy; so satisfied, in fact, that he couldn't be bothered with trivial things like shutting doors, or uncuffing Calleigh. She laid helpless, broken and bleeding, watching her world grow dark and fuzzy at the edges and wondering if she had alerted anyone at all…

_ center i And the years go by so fast  
Silent fortress built to last  
Wonder how I ever made it /i /center _

The open doors were the first alert that all was not well as Horatio screeched around the corner into Calleigh's street. Blocking the driveway with his Hummer, he pulled his gun, making his way cautiously into the garage. Glancing into the car, he took in the boots, the turned off phone, the bloodstains on the driver's seat, and a white hot flood of vengeance coursed through him. He couldn't fathom what had bested the strength of his beloved Bullet Girl, and was suddenly unsure of his ability to go against it while simultaneously knowing full well that he would happily go down in a blaze of glory, or even a fizzle of humiliation, if it meant that Calleigh could live. He had never been inside her sanctuary before, and each smear of blood brought a new wave of fury. He worked through the kitchen, almost losing it when he saw the blood-streaked belt on the floor, putting two and two together and continually coming up with five until he got his first look into the sunken living room and saw the cascade of blond hair. Mind flashing back to his first glimpse of that hair, he forced himself to rush to find a pulse, coming within millimeters of crying when it was there. She whimpered at the touch, and he quickly unlocked the cuffs but was at a complete loss as to where he could touch her without causing more excruciating pain. When she looked up at him, the utter lifelessness in her emerald eyes chilled him to the core.

"H-Horat-io."

"I'm here, Calleigh. You're safe now, and we're going to get the people who did this to you." He reached for his phone. "I need-"

"NO!"

He had never heard that much vehemence from her before, at least not directed at him, and it stopped him dead in his verbal tracks. "Um. Belay my last. Ten-four." He looked down at her, unsure what to do but knowing he never wanted to hear that tone again. She was trembling, and he slowly took the fuzzy blanket with the wolves on it that he knew was her favorite and covered her. She clutched it gratefully, covering her nakedness. "Calleigh?"

Slowly she moved until she was sitting on the floor, leaning back against the couch. "This is not a crime scene." Horatio opened his mouth to protest but was silenced with a bolt of emerald fire. "I apologize for bothering you, Horatio. I will be on time to work tomorrow."

His mouth dropped open. "Calleigh, you need medical attention."

"I need sleep. And a lot of foundation."

The end of the sentence wasn't meant to be heard, but he did anyway. His hands were clenching at his sides as he tried to control his desire to at least process the scene, if not try to heal her by sheer will. "Calleigh?"

She looked away, cursing the way he could fit all the millions of questions stampeding through his head into the inflection he gave her name. "I deserved it, okay? I refuse to become a statistic. If you're so desperate that someone see me, call Alexx."

Heart breaking, he made the call, and the team's pillar of sanity reassured him that she'd be there sooner than humanly possible. Calleigh had a better history of shutouts than any baseball team in history, and the one he was getting now was of epic proportions. He couldn't even consider the thought that something would make Calleigh not okay and she wouldn't fix it. He knew some people were afraid of doctors but he couldn't imagine this woman being afraid of anything.

"I'm really sorry to bother you. I thought I had talked to Eric last. I hope I didn't get you from something important."

She still wasn't looking at him, and he went and kneeled next to her. "Calleigh, there is nothing I would rather do than be here for you. Whoever did this to you needs to be put in prison for life. Or worse." He saw the fear in her eyes and it was worse than a gunshot to the heart. "Calleigh, talk to me. Please."

"Haven't you ever considered that some people are just born bad?" She finally met his eyes, but the sparkling fire that made her Calleigh wasn't in them. She looked utterly defeated, mirroring the quiet desperation that he had seen in the eyes of so many battered women. Battered. Not his Calleigh. The two shouldn't be in the same universe. How could she be sitting here, knowing what she knew, and still think she deserved to be hit?

"Some people, yes. But not you." The voice that could give her chills was so thick with emotion that it got stuck, catching in his throat. It threw her enough that for a split second he could read all the answers to his questions racing through her eyes. "Hagan." It wasn't a question, and she shrank against the couch as her eyes filled again with tears, silently cursing herself for being so damn transparent and not realizing the irony of that thought.

"Leave it alone, Horatio. Just leave it."

He stared at her until she realized that she was shrinking further under his intense scrutiny. He had a hard time tearing his eyes away from her and was saved by a knock. Going to let Alexx in was a welcome distraction from the tension in the room. "Thank you for getting here so fast. She's refusing to go to the hospital."

"Anything for our girl. Did she tell you what happened?"

"She told me to leave it alone. I need you to do a rape kit, Alexx."

Alexx winced. "Okay. I'll take care of her, Horatio. You get out of here for now." She wasn't sure who would be in more pain, Calleigh from what had to be done or Horatio from hearing Calleigh in pain, and she could only handle one of them at a time. She watched his internal war, and finally he nodded and left, only to race her for the living room a split second later when they heard a gunshot. They rounded the corner and saw Calleigh, hands shaking but aim deadly accurate as she held what remained of the coffee table she had just shot at gunpoint. Alexx took one look at her tearstained face and the blanket that wasn't really covering her and practically teleported across the room to take Calleigh in her arms. "Horatio, go. I've got it covered." Alexx knew that walking out while Calleigh sobbed would be one of the hardest things that man would ever have to do. "Shhh, baby, I've got you." She sat Calleigh on the couch and kneeled in front of her, holding her close while her skilled fingers performed the initial assessment. "What happened, honey?"

"I was bad. I ruined my Daddy's case, and I was mean to John."

"Well, can I check you out?" Alexx felt her heart shatter as she noticed how completely broken Calleigh was. Calleigh nodded, too tired of fighting. Alexx took Calleigh's hand and led her to the huge master bathroom, where she knew there was lots of counter space and a bench where Calleigh could sit comfortably while the evidence was collected. Watching Calleigh, Alexx realized that she had never ever seen her friend look so small. She was small, of course, but she had a way of seeming ten feet tall and bulletproof. Alexx prepared for the exam carefully, explaining everything before she did it. She knew Calleigh knew it all, but she had almost reverted mentally to early childhood from the trauma and Alexx didn't want to make it worse than it already was. There was no way to not cause an excruciating amount of pain; there were details of Calleigh's medical history known only to the two of them, details that made even routine medical exams difficult and painful as well as preventing her from taking most medications. Alexx had stopped to fill a scrip of the strongest pain meds Calleigh could tolerate on the way over, determined to make the ordeal as easy as possible for her. She would have given anything to have traded places with her. "Okay, honey, I want you to take some medicine for me to start with alright?"

Calleigh recoiled, panic in her eyes. "Nooooooooo, no please…"

Alexx blinked back tears. "Baby you're hurting a lot right now." Calleigh nodded slowly. "Want to make it better?" Calleigh nodded again. "I have to examine you and you're in no shape to deal with what that causes right now. This will make it better."

"But Ima get sick and it's scary." The inflection in her voice reminded Alexx of when her own children were about four.

"I know it is sugar, but I promise I won't leave you until you're okay again."

Calleigh sighed, twirling a lock of her hair around her finger. "Promise?"

"I promise." Slowly Calleigh nodded acceptance. Alexx pulled a syringe out of her bag. "I know you hate needles, baby, but you can't swallow it."

The fear in Calleigh's eyes had increased tenfold as she stared at the needle. Alexx didn't trust her voice to not show her tears as she quickly administered the drug into Calleigh's hip. Calleigh bit back a scream, and she finished as fast as she could, pulling Calleigh into a hug. "Good girl, sugar. Now I'm going to examine you okay?"

Calleigh nodded against Alexx's shoulder. She was losing a lot of blood, and Alexx was more concerned with trying to repair the damage than with collecting evidence, but she knew she had to tread carefully or risk losing Calleigh completely. She was dangerously close already. Calleigh had stopped responding verbally, but her eyes never left Alexx, following her from behind a long blond curtain. She was frighteningly quiet when Alexx stitched up the worst of the cuts without anesthetic; Alexx couldn't give her any and it killed her. She tried hard to finish quickly, almost crying when she saw the silent tears running down the younger woman's face. Finally the evidence was collected and all the open wounds were bandaged, and Alexx helped Calleigh into loose cotton drawstring shorts and a soft tank top, then led her to bed and sat next to her. Calleigh nestled herself close to Alexx, finally breathing easier. "Calleigh, can you please tell me what happened?"

"I screwed up my Daddy's first case." Calleigh didn't sound four anymore, but she wasn't even close to usual. Her accent barely colored words devoid of any inflection or emotion. "John pulled him out of a bar, which he didn't have to do considering how mean I was to him, but he did it so then I took Dad home. He had a stash in his room and came out swinging. I shouldn't have cried or tried to fight. I should be grateful that he loves me enough to try to make sure my incompetence doesn't hurt anyone else." Alexx turned her head away, wiping tears as Calleigh continued. "I cleaned up and came home, and John was waiting for me. He shouldn't still care this much after how I treated him, but he does. Daddy threw cologne at me and John smelled it and said he'd do better so I didn't think I have to cheat on him. I should be grateful. Alexx, if I wasn't so bad they wouldn't have to." Calleigh looked up at her rock, eyes wide and innocent. "I'm a bad girl, I'm so lucky to have him when I'm so bad."

"Calleigh, baby, do you remember Bella Kelly?"

"Of course. Bella's boyfriend raped and beat her every day. But we got him." Calleigh sounded more like herself when discussing a case, and suddenly sat bolt upright. "Did he get out? Cause I promised that girl I'd keep her safe…"

"No, baby. The bastard is still locked up. But Calleigh, how is it that Bella deserves that protection and you don't?"

Calleigh's hand immediately went to the cut above her eye. "Because Bella's a good person."

"Calleigh, think about all the people you've saved. You're one of the best people I know." Alexx cradled her as she thought about it.

"If John hurts me, he's not going to hurt anyone else. So if I take my punishment like a good girl when I deserve it I can protect people. And then maybe I'll be better so I won't need it anymore."

"It's not that simple sugar. When you're hurt, it hurts me, and Eric, and Speed, and Horatio."

A horrified look flashed through Calleigh's eyes as all her justification was ripped away. "Fuck."

Alexx had to laugh. Calleigh could swear with the best of them quite creatively, but the word combined with the look on her face was priceless. Alexx pulled the patchwork quilt around them both. "Can we go after Hagan?"

Calleigh sat up, staring straight into Alexx's eyes. "Hagan. Not my Daddy."

"Hagan," Alexx repeated. As Calleigh trembled in her arms, she called Horatio.


	3. Chapter 3

center Chapter 3

_ i Cool breeze and autumn leaves  
Slow motion daylight  
A lone pair of watchful eyes  
Oversee the living /center  
_

_All units be advised, there is an APB priority on one blue Saturn Vue, license number GXC-210. Warrant for arrest, considered armed and dangerous /i _

The APB was merely a formality. Horatio was bound and determined to bring Hagan in himself, and no MDPD cop would dare get in his way. Sure enough, the cop had come home. Gun in hand, Horatio went to fulfill his duty as welcoming committee.

"Horatio. What do you want?"

Gun leveled between Hagan's eyes, in a voice that might have been asking someone to pass the mashed potatoes, Horatio calmly replied, "Give me a reason, you son of a bitch. You know I won't miss."

Hagan stopped dead in his tracks. "Don't tell me the fucking bitch was cheating with you? Never pegged you as the type to be able to handle a little whore like that with proper force. Seriously-" The bullet that passed cleanly through Hagan's shoulder ensured that no one would find out right then what Hagan was serious about. He went down, screaming, and Horatio was on top of him, twisting the injured arm and adding a broken wrist to the mix. "I'll have your badge for this, Caine!"

"I think you've got that backwards, Detective. How does aggravated battery, assault with a deadly, assaulting an officer, and attempted murder sound? And then we have resisting arrest, disturbing the peace, conduct unbecoming, and I know Eric and Speed will have some charges to add." Horatio cuffed Hagan and left him face down in the driveway, pressing his foot into Hagan's shoulder and putting some weight behind it as he called dispatch to revoke the APB.

_ center i Feel the presence all around  
A tortured soul, a wound unhealing  
No regrets or promises  
The past is gone but you can still be free  
If time will set you free /i /center  
_

Eric dropped everything and sprinted out the second he heard the APB on Hagan. All he could think of was that something might have happened to the golden ray of sunshine he was privileged to call his best friend. Pulling up to Hagan's house, he found Horatio standing over Hagan.

He looked up. "Oh, so she was going for some exotic flavor. Didn't figure her for that type, but I guess she had to learn the language somehow."

"H?" Confused didn't begin to describe the state Eric was in.

"John is insisting on making things worse for himself," Horatio said mildly.

Feeling the center of his world shatter for the second time in an hour, Eric tried his damndest to hide emotion. "Calleigh?" The flash in Horatio's eyes told him everything he needed to know. "Where is she?"

"With Alexx."

"He…? She's..?" Eric was fighting to breathe. Calleigh was immortal. He couldn't even bring himself to think the word.

"No. She wouldn't go to the hospital."

Eric started breathing again. "Speed?"

"On his way."

A low, almost hysterical laugh interrupted the conversation. "What a lying little slut. Man she really gets around!"

Almost before he realized it, Eric had his gun out and pressed into the back of Hagan's skull. "I'd watch your mouth if I were you." He looked up at Horatio. "How bad?"

"Bad."

Eric winced. "Are we going to take this monster in?"

"When Speed gets here."

"Alright." Eric nodded, mind whirling with questions.

_ center i Time now to spread your wings  
To take to flight the life endeavor  
Aim for the burning sun  
You're trapped inside but you can still be free  
If time will set you free  
But it's a long long way to go /i /center  
_

It wasn't long before a yellow motorcycle showed up bearing a very angry Speed.

"Let's get the trash collection over with." Eric and Speed covered Horatio as he threw Hagan into the back of the Hummer, making sure there would be guns on him at all times.

"Brought in by the Harem, how nice."

"What?!"

"John thinks we're all sleeping with Calleigh," Horatio explained.

"She's my family, you ass!" One rarely saw Tim Speedle come unglued, but he was fiercely protective of the people he cared about.

"The way you guys are acting, you have to be getting some. Protecting what's yours, removing the competition. Nice arrangement you've got, nice little slut to share, it's the only way something like her is worth this much loyalty-"

The sound of three weapons cocking interrupted his tirade. "I think it would be in your best interests to shut the hell up." There was a note of warning in Eric's voice.

"I'll have all your badges for this, you know. And I'll get the girl, too. I know what I was lacking, and I'll be all she needs. She won't need to cheat on me anymore."

_ center i Keep moving way up high  
You see the light, it shines forever  
Sail through the crimson skies  
The purest light, the light that sets you free  
If time will set you free /i /center  
_

Hagan was extremely lucky that they pulled up to the station when they did. He was handed over to officers who were equally incensed by him and the way he treated people. It seemed almost everyone wanted a hand in bringing him down, and though the news about Calleigh hadn't spread, it was common knowledge that something was going on. Calleigh had earned herself far more respect than Hagan could ever dream of having, and everyone wanted to make sure that she was safe. Eric and Speed followed Horatio to his office. All they knew was that it was bad, and now they wanted the whole story. "I got a mayday from Calleigh's phone at 0237. Arrived on scene to find blood everywhere and all her doors open. Entered to find her in bad shape in her living room, cuffed and badly beaten. She was losing consciousness, but insisted that her home was not a crime scene and actually apologized for calling me. I don't know who exactly she was going for-"

Eric slammed his fist against the arm of the chair. "Oh, damn it, Calleigh!" Horatio and Speed stared. "I suspected he was hitting her, actually called her on it but that girl is the queen of throwing up defenses. I knew they had a fight so I told her if she sent up a flare I'd come running, no questions asked. She actually took me up on it." He was trying to stay detached but it just wasn't working anymore.

"The point now is that she did send it. Problem is that she thinks she deserved everything she got tonight. Alexx is with her now and convinced her to let us take Hagan down, but It wasn't easy. I'm worried." For Horatio to admit this was astounding.

"I know why she thinks she deserves it, but it's not my place to share. Suffice it to say it makes sense and it will take a long time to change her mind, if ever." Eric looked lost.

"She knows we care. We're here for her no matter what."

"But is that enough?"

No one had an answer for that.


	4. Chapter 4

center Chapter 4

_ i Sail through the wind and rain tonight  
You're free to fly tonight  
And you can still be free if time will set you free  
And going higher than mountain tops  
And go high like the wind don't stop  
And go high  
Free to fly tonight  
Free to fly tonight /i /center _

Finally asleep, Calleigh had her head on Alexx's leg, facing her, clutching the hem of the older woman's shirt tightly in both hands. It wasn't a sound sleep, though. Alexx stroked Calleigh's hair, singing softly, trying to calm her as she did her own children. Calleigh was one of her closest friends, but she was a daughter too, and it had completely torn her apart to have to cause her pain, even though it was ultimately to help her. She was going to be violently sick from the meds when she woke up, and Alexx hated to cause that on top of everything else, but it was better at this point to make the exam easier and deal with the effects later. For now, though, she was as peaceful as she was going to get. Alexx felt her phone vibrate against her hip and picked it up. "She's sleeping, Horatio."

"How is she?"

"It's not good. She lost a lot of blood, but she'll live. I can deal with the effects of that; I have before. The worst of it will take a few days to show up, though. I think she may have some broken bones, her wrist in particular. I'm going to do some x-rays tomorrow. I got her to take some painkillers and she's sleeping now, which is really the best thing."

"I agree. We arrested Hagan. Eric and Speed are adding to my list of charges. People may infer from the list, but at this point I am not involving Calleigh. We do need to come gather some evidence though."

"Okay, but close the bedroom door and keep it down. I'm not leaving her."

"Okay."

There was a long pause, and Alexx could hear the wheels turning. "Horatio?"

He sighed, knowing Alexx had a pretty good idea of what he was thinking. "I'm going to find a second set of evidence because her father beat her too, aren't I?"

"No action against her father, Horatio."

"Yeah, I suspected as much."

"We're her family, Horatio. She's going to be okay."

"I'll take your word on that. We'll be there shortly."

"Alright." Alexx hung up, watching the sleeping woman who meant so much to her. It was going to be a hellaciously long night.

_ center i When you feel all alone and the world has turned it's back on you  
Give me a moment please to tame your wild wild heart  
I know you feel like the walls are closing in on you  
It's hard to find relief and people can be so cold /i /center  
_

Eric and Speed drove to Calleigh's Bal Harbor home separately from Horatio. Both needed to see her for themselves to not be convinced she was dead, though they knew the chances of that happening were slim to none. She was better off with Alexx right now, and they would be better off if they focused on the task at hand. From the outside Calleigh's house was no different from the others in the area. Decidedly upscale neighborhood, but she deserved it. Calleigh had done extremely well for herself, and in her line of work she needed someplace safe. She had made the spacious home her sanctuary, blending her Cajun heritage with the modernness of her adopted city for a unique and comforting result. The sprawling layout gave her plenty of room, which she loved, and the back wall of the living room was solid glass, opening to the huge back deck and then down to the private beach.

Eric walked into the garage and immediately walked back out. He was having a major problem with the fact that it was Calleigh's blood all over the place. Speed came up next to him. "I keep thinking of the parties she used to have. Before Janet died."

"I do, too. Those were good times." He grinned at the memory of Calleigh laughing hysterically as they teased her about the tiaras on display above her precious guns. The whole house was like that, resonating with the dissonance between the girly hopeless romantic and the self-assured Bullet Girl with nerves and stomach of steel. But that dissonance was the sweetest music in the world to anyone who knew her. "There's so much blood."

"There's more left inside her." Neither had heard Horatio come up behind them. Together the three faced the scene before them. "We owe her this."

"I'll take the garage," Speed said quietly.

"What's inside, H?" Eric felt sick.

"Let's walk it." Horatio led them to her car. "She was beaten pretty badly elsewhere, and drove herself home. I believe Hagan was waiting for her. He pulled her out of the car, and her head slammed into the wall." He indicated the stain on the wall about two feet above the cement floor. "She was dragged into the house." Splintered doorframe. "Down the hall, then through the kitchen to the living room." More blood, trailing where he dragged her. Eric swore when he saw the coffee table, and the blood soaking into the sky blue carpet.

"She shot the coffee table. Hagan cuffed her and threw her over it and… yeah." Horatio couldn't bring himself to utter the word in her oasis, the place she had created to escape from the horrors she saw every day. "She was beaten very badly in here too."

"Bastard left her for dead!" Eric burst out, shaking.

"We got him, Eric," Horatio said softly. "Now let's bury him."


End file.
